At the 9th International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, an Indonesian health ministry official signed an agreement with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s executive director worth $18 million that will fund TB control programs, the Jakarta Post reports. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the health ministry’s director general for disease control and environmental recovery, said the aid will be channeled through the ministry and the University of Indonesia School of Public Health (Maulia, 8/11).

ChinaDaily Examines Country’s Anti-Smoking Efforts

China Daily reports on the competing interests of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, a group that presides over the nation’s anti-smoking initiatives yet “also administers and represents the China Tobacco Monopoly Bureau and China National Tobacco Company.” In order to control smoking in the country, members of grassroots anti-smoking groups are calling for a separation between the tobacco industry and government (Juan, 8/11).

UgandaReceives 30 Tons Of Antiretrovirals

On Friday, Uganda received 30 tons of antiretroviral drugs from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, James Kakooza, the primary health care state minister, said, New Vision/allAfrica.com reports. The National Medical Stores would distribute the drugs according to orders from hospitals, he said (Namutebi, 8/10).

Children’s HIV Center To Open In Rwanda

The New Times/allAfrica.com reports on an HIV center for children in Rwanda that is set to open next month. The center, the first of its kind in the country, will be located Kibagabaga Hospital, in Gasabo district. If successful, the program will be replicated in other hospitals across the country (Nambi, 8/9).